Avatar
by AuthorMikeSims
Summary: What happens when the lover online is not who they say they are.


Sometimes reality turns out to be just perception and sometimes perception can be a reality. Ilene is a professional worker for a paper company handling the daily procedure of responding to internet queries on her company's products. Ilene spends her day on the internet surfing the web in-between answering questions of potential customers. Ilene has all but given up on the dating game as one disaster follows another in that arena. Ilene has now resigned herself to just enjoying her online friends and making the internet her world. Ilene jumps from forum to forum, blog to blog, instant messaging numerous people she has never met. Some have become dear to her as everyday she waits to hear from them. This is her routine, her life, and she is content.

On a slow day at work, Ilene encounters a new person who is sparks her interest. She sits in the background day after day reading his conversations with people. Finally one day she engages a conversation with him. They strike it off well. They like many of the same things; they have the same humor and views on important subjects. They are very intrigued with each other. They have both been through bad relationships, yet now they seem to be a match. They get to know each other over months being cautious to not get too carried away. However, it is obvious they are falling in love.

Privately they chat online and John, the man Ilene has met sent her pictures of himself on vacations. John tells Ilene that he works as a research doctor for a large hospital. They share everything about themselves and Ilene asks John, if he wants to talk on the phone. He agrees and they talk about everything. Their love grows even further. Ilene then asks John, if he would like to go out sometime. John states that he cannot do that. Ilene shutters at the thought but, maybe he is married? John explains that he has been keeping a detail away from her and that is he is disabled from an accident and it is a little impossible for him to get around. Ilene says she understands as she hangs up the phone.

For days, Ilene ponders how cruel life is to make her soul mate unable to share the many things in her life. Ilene decides that she does not care, he is the one meant for her. Ilene talks to him online and tells John that it does not matter; she is in love with him. John tells Ilene that he is in love with her too, but it would never work and he can't hurt her by tying her down like this. John just wants to interact with Ilene like this on the internet but that is far as it can ever be. Ilene is hurt and decides that she needs to think about all of this.

The next day, Ilene's best friend has lunch with her and Ilene tells her everything. Ilene's friend tells her that it sounds like she will never be happy unless she meets John no matter what. Ilene is now convinced and she searches to find the hospital that John used to work for and is now inpatient. Ilene finds it and travels to see him.

Upon arriving she wants to see John but the workers state that he is not available for visitors ever. She makes a scene insisting she be allowed to see him. She loves him and he loves her. The workers look at each other and call for Dr. Jenson, John's partner. Jenson has the nurse escort Ilene to a patient room and she leaves. Ilene sees the doctor standing over a patient in a coma. She is horrified and asks, is that him? The doctor says yes, that is John. Ilene stops and says; "Wait, that voice. I thought you were John, I talked to you on the phone." He states it was him acting as John at John's request. She doesn't understand. Jenson explains that John is in a coma but the person she was talking to online was an avatar of his personality. This was his work before the accident. He created a near perfect avatar of himself that could do certain tasks for him. His likes, dislikes, everything that he is, is in that avatar. The avatar can do anything online and does what John would do if conscious. Jensen demonstrates by typing something on his notebook computer to "John". John replies to Jensen. Jensen explains that Ilene is here. John becomes angry and upset that she sees him like this. He tells Ilene that he loves her and always will.

Ilene overwhelmed by this horrifying reality storms out of the hospital and sits in her car crying. She thinks how life is such a joke to play on her like this. The perfect one for her and he is not even real. She leaves for home and takes a vacation to recover from this atrocity. Her best friend comes frequently to comfort and spend time. Days pass and Ilene is starting to get to normal. She cannot bring herself to go online anymore for personal reasons. It is just too much. She still misses John or whatever that thing was.

Months pass and life is back to normal for her. She is back to her job routine and has started chatting online with friends again. However she is keeping her distance from knowing anyone seriously. Her company inbox receives a message. She opens it and it is a message from John asking her to hear him out. He tells her that he might be just an avatar but it is what he really is. She weeps and further reads the words, "Turn around." She looks behind her and John is standing in the doorway with the cell phone he messaged her from. She stands up in a confusing state. He tells her that it was her voice that day in the hospital that woke him. If she would have stayed she would have seen it. He has been spending the last months rehabilitating. He read all of his avatar's mail and he is in love with her. It was her that brought him out of the coma and that she is the one for him. She cries as she falls into his arms as they kiss passionately. Destiny has been fulfilled as it should.


End file.
